Doctor, Doctor, Doctor

"Tell me what you fear."

Writers: Lauren Mooney & Stewart Pringle 

Format: Audio

Released: October 2026

Series: Halloween 2.01

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

In the 1980s, four physics students find themselves drawn to a strange mirror, seemingly haunted by a ghastly figure carrying a distinctive umbrella...

As they experiment with the mirror, they begin to lose themselves in its mystery, as the entity within seeks to break into their world.

Verdict

Doctor, Doctor, Doctor was a great start to the second series of Halloween! I was delighted when this was announced and I do hope that it now becomes an annual tradition on the Big Finish release calendar. I think it was a little too expensive but I've bought it so I guess the corporate win this time around. It does look to be a strong variety of stories and eras with the cover looking particularly reminiscent of the scary theme of October's final day. This had an eery feel and it was always going to be a success with the writing duo of Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle. They're really impressive and they captured an enigmatic and mysterious feel almost immediately. I would have liked more of the Seventh Doctor featuring here as I feel that when travelling solo he excels in these kind of episodes. I recently completed The Doctor and Carnacki series where that was perfect for this incarnation but this did kind of become a Doctor-lite episode. It was essentially a Seventh Doctor version of Blink and I will not accept any answer other than that Tenth Doctor episode being a direct inspiration. Why not take advantage of such a successful formula for an adventure? The moment the Doctor on the recording from 1914 seemed to react to those in the 1980s about moving the dial to change the recording or turn it off was especially reminiscent. It worked a treat. I thought the quartet of Pat, Mark, Hamish and Hazel were really strong and it was clear they had a kind of clique feeling amongst themselves. They went back a long time together and that was important in establishing all of their respective relationships to the listener. I think Hazel was the standout and the Doctor reacting to her name and likening it to the eyes was a nice comment. This was definitely a softer side of the Seventh Doctor which is ironic given his tendencies and the theme of this release. It was obvious that at least one of the quartet was going to go south and that turned out to be Mark who was possessed by the entity in then mirror. He became a little obsessed with the artefact before that and even transferred it to his house which felt a bit mad! I thought Pat was a really nice character and the fate that befell her was pretty grim but I strangely liked that given the Halloween theme. I thought it was quite tongue and cheek given this release came out at the start of October for the first episode to mention how it wasn't even Halloween yet but the story wasn't far off in terms of days! It was single figures away from the big day. The Doctor emerging from the mirror after being pulled out was unexpected but the scale of his time trapped in the pocket dimension was rather extraordinary. Over half a century! No wonder he had lower back pain. I thought the Doctor tapping into his knowledge of the entity and how it left survivors on a particular planet was good, but a tad vague. The focus on fears was magnificent though and really should have been at the forefront for the episode's entirety. I was a big fan of that and hearing in particular the quietness of night and thinking someone would come out of the wardrobe was a pretty dark fear! I don't remember being scared of that but it's definitely not something I would say to get in my children's head. Bedrooms are supposed to be a safe space but that wasn't presented as such here! The Doctor using a Time Lord's fear against the entity was nicely done and I think the ambiguity there was needed. Still, it's tantalising to think exactly what that might be. Overall, a great listen and a very strong start to the series! 

Rating: 8/10